Greeting

Jude,^(A) a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James:

To those who are the called,^(B) loved^[a](C) by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.^(D)

² May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.^(E)

Jude’s Purpose in Writing

³ Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share,^(F) I found it necessary to write and exhort you to contend for the faith^(G) that was delivered^(H) to the saints once for all. ⁴ For some men, who were designated for this judgment long ago,^(I) have come in by stealth;^(J) they are ungodly,^(K) turning the grace of our God into promiscuity and denying^(L) Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

Apostates: Past and Present

⁵ Now I want to remind you, though you know all these things: The Lord^[b] first^[c] saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe;^{(M) 6} and He has kept, with eternal chains in darkness for the judgment of the great day, the angels^(N) who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling. ⁷ In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah^(O) and the cities around them committed sexual immorality and practiced perversions,^[d] just as angels did, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.^(P)

⁸ Nevertheless, these dreamers likewise defile their flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme glorious ones.^{(Q) 9} Yet Michael^(R) the archangel,^(S) when he was disputing with the Devil^(T) in a debate about Moses’^(U) body, did not dare bring an abusive condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But these people blaspheme anything they don’t understand. What they know by instinct like unreasoning animals—they destroy themselves with these things. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have traveled in the way of Cain,^(V) have abandoned themselves to the error of Balaam^(W) for profit, and have perished in Korah’s rebellion.^(X)

The Apostates’ Doom

¹² These are the ones who are like dangerous reefs^[e] at your love feasts.^(Y) They feast with you, nurturing only themselves without fear. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds;^(Z) trees in late autumn—fruitless, twice dead, pulled out by the roots; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars^(AA) for whom the blackness of darkness^(AB) is reserved forever!^(AC)

¹⁴ And Enoch,^(AD) in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied about them:

¹⁶ These people are discontented grumblers, walking according to their desires;^(AG) their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering^(AH) people for their own advantage.

¹⁷ But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; ¹⁸ they told you, “In the end time^(AI) there will be scoffers^(AJ) walking according to their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These people create divisions and are unbelievers,^[h](AK) not having the Spirit.

Exhortation and Benediction

²⁰ But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit,^{(AL) 21} keep yourselves in the love of God,^(AM) expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. ²² Have mercy on those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire;^(AN) have mercy on others but with fear,^(AO) hating^(AP) even the garment^(AQ) defiled by the flesh.

²⁴ Now to Him^(AR) who is able to protect you from stumbling^(AS) and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless^(AT) and with great joy, ²⁵ to the only^(AU) God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,^[i] be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time,^[j] now and forever. Amen.

The Shepherds and God’s Flock

34 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them: This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves!^(A) Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock? ³ You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened animals, but you do not tend the flock.^{(B) 4} You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost.^(C) Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. ⁵ They were scattered for lack of a shepherd;^(D) they became food for all the wild animals^(E) when they were scattered. ⁶ My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill.^(F) They were scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.

⁷ “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. ⁸ As I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“because My flock has become prey and food for every wild animal since they lack a shepherd, for My shepherds do not search for My flock, and because the shepherds feed themselves rather than My flock, ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord!

¹⁰ “This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against the shepherds.^(G) I will demand My flock from them^[a] and prevent them from shepherding the flock. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves, for I will rescue My flock from their mouths so that they will not be food for them.

¹¹ “For this is what the Lord God says: See, I Myself will search for My flock and look for them. ¹² As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered^(H) on a cloudy and dark day. ¹³ I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the land. ¹⁴ I will tend them with good pasture, and their grazing place will be on Israel’s lofty mountains. There they will lie down in a good grazing place; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will tend My flock and let them lie down.”^(I) This is the declaration of the Lord God. ¹⁶ “I will seek the lost,^(J) bring back the strays, bandage the injured,^(K) and strengthen the weak, but I will destroy^[b] the fat and the strong. I will shepherd them with justice.

¹⁷ “The Lord God says to you, My flock: I am going to judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and male goats.^{(L) 18} Isn’t it enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of the pasture with your feet? Or isn’t it enough that you drink the clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? ¹⁹ Yet My flock has to feed on what your feet have trampled, and drink what your feet have muddied.

²⁰ “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: See, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Since you have pushed with flank and shoulder and butted all the weak ones with your horns until you scattered them all over, ²² I will save My flock, and they will no longer be prey for you. I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³ I will appoint over them a single shepherd, My servant David, and he will shepherd them. He will tend them himself and will be their shepherd.^{(M) 24} I, Yahweh, will be their God, and My servant David^(N) will be a prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken.

²⁵ “I will make a covenant of peace^(O) with them and eliminate dangerous animals^(P) in the land, so that they may live securely^(Q) in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. ²⁶ I will make them and the area around My hill^(R) a blessing: I will send down showers in their season^(S)—showers^[c] of blessing. ²⁷ The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. They will know that I am Yahweh when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslave them.^{(T) 28} They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the wild animals of the land will not consume them. They will live securely, and no one will frighten them. ²⁹ I will establish for them a place renowned for its agriculture,^[d] and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land. They will no longer endure the insults of the nations.^{(U) 30} Then they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people.”^(V) This is the declaration of the Lord God. ³¹ “You are My flock, the human flock of My pasture, and I am your God.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.^(W)

Psalm 4

A Night Prayer

For the choir director: with stringed instruments.^(A) A Davidic psalm.